300D seized up

[JennyR]

I have only had my Canon 300D 4 hours - charged the battery for 2 hrs, inserted a 128mb compact flash card and went shooting to try it out. It then decided to seize up - can't access menu or anything - just won't do anything - all it says is EOS on the LCD.

Has anybody else had this problem and can I do anything to rectify it??

Many thanks

Jenny

[Jon]

Pop the battery for a couple of minutes. If that doesn't work, you may need to remove the back-up (button cell) battery as well. What lens were you using?

[JennyR]

Hi, Jon

I was using the kit lens on auto - although I am not new to digital photography I am very new to SLR - I removed the battery and the card/replaced them, and nothing has changed. Where is the lithium battery for the time/date etc.?

I wondered if it was something to do with the memory card as it is a basic compact flash card - could this have been the problem.


Thanks for your help

[Jon]

Kit lens - OK. Some older non-Canon lenses can cause problems; I just wanted to rule this out.
IIRC, the back-up battery's inside the battery compartment by the hinge or under a screw-on cover on the bottom of the camera.
Does the CF card work OK on other cameras or devices? Have you re-formatted it before using?

[JennyR]

I've removed both batteries and will leave it for a few minutes and try again.

Is their anything I might have 'locked' by mistake although I have been through the book and couldn't find anything.

When I turn it on the EOS comes up and the red light flashes that it has recognised the memory card and then I can't do anything else. Weird - I was really looking forward to trying it out.

[kenyc]

I've removed both batteries and will leave it for a few minutes and try again.

Is their anything I might have 'locked' by mistake although I have been through the book and couldn't find anything.

When I turn it on the EOS comes up and the red light flashes that it has recognised the memory card and then I can't do anything else. Weird - I was really looking forward to trying it out.

I'd call the dealer you bought it from and get it exchanged or Canon for help/warranty...

KAC

[JennyR]

Yes, Ive got 7 days to return it faulty if I cant get it working - shame!!:(

[MTalley]

I wonder if re-installing the firmware might fix it? It would be worth a try, at least.

I'd say if the battery thing and reinstalling the firmware doesn't have it running again, I'd definitely take up the seller on the 7 day return policy. For what it's worth, I've not seen many complaints on out of box failures on the 300D's yet (though I've only been here a couple of weeks, I have browsed a lot of the older messages).

[Jon]

I'd say that if pulling batteries doesn't unlock it, just take it back - don't even bother re-loading the firmware. It's new - you shouldn't have to work at getting it to work.

[JennyR]

Well, I have put both batteries back in and there is nothing - wont even power up. (No EOS on the LCD now) I have tried it with and without the card. I have two batteries - both fully charged - and neither will power up the camera.

Is there a lock button that I'm missing??

[JennyR]

Thinking about it, it must be a main power thing - as prior to me taking out the small button cell battery it showed EOS on the LCD and the red light blinked as it recognised the memory card. Now it does nothing at all.

[trevor51590]

as stupid as this sounds, are you closing your battery door all the way? u have to push on it until you hear the click. if i doesnt, then it might not work. I was not doing this as i was new to slr also and really didnt know my camera.

[JennyR]

Yes, Trevor, I also thought it must be that I am doing something really stupid so I checked/double checked everything and looked in the book again to see if I had done everything right and - no good - no difference.

I just can't believe that it won't work - anyway tomorrow I will ask a friend to just make sure that it isn't me and then take it back.

Thanks, everyone, for trying to solve my problem.

[robertwgross]

If the camera is fouled up that way, then I would hurry it back to the vendor. One of two things will happen. Either they will look at it and find something simple, correct it, and return it to you, or else they will look at it, find it a total mystery, and give you a replacement. Simple as that.

In my life, I have purchased only two Canon EOS digital cameras, and in each case, the dealer pulled the camera out of the box, watched me load batteries and stuff, and watched me snap the first photo to prove proper function.

---Bob Gross---

[MTalley]

Yup, at this point, I'd say take it back for an exchange. Obviously something faulty inside it somewhere. Let the vendor deal with returning it to Canon or whatever they do.

Bob makes a good point. Take one of your charged batteries with you when you go to make the exchange and make sure that the replacement one works before you leave the store (assuming you didn't mail order it).

[JennyR]

Yes, I did buy it mail order within the UK - have phoned customer service and they were very helpful and are arranging for the camera to be collected within the next 7 days.

Oh, well I now have a Canon bag (purchased yesterday whilst the battery was charging) together with a spare Cannon battery and no camera. I have gone for the refund and, therefore, will be looking around for another Canon 300D.

[Medic1]

Take it back....definetly sounds like a defect. I have had mine for over 6 months and have had absolutely no problems with it

[PhotosGuy]

According to the March/April PCPhoto,you need to condition Li-ion & NiMH batteries with THREE full charge to discharge cycles before the first partial discharge/charge use.
Also, I read somewhere that, in the cam or on the shelf, 2 years is about the limit of their life.

[cfcRebel]

Did u power on even without any CF in the camera? Mine turns on fine when there is no CF. It just shows "No CF found" on the LCD.

[Sele]

The exact same thing happened to mine when I bought it a couple of months ago. The thing just went dead, I couldn't reload firmware because I couldn't get the blame thing to turn on. I took mine back got a new one and have been snapping away ever since.